January 3, 2015

It was so nice not to have to wake up for an early breakfast and to get to be out by 8 AM. However, the biologic clock did not know that, so I was up about the same time. The Grupo Cindy breakfast sign was up with a pan of fried plantains, but today with a smaller group we had made to order eggs. A few from our group were in the breakfast room having one last breakfast together. Once finished, I went to my room to get everything packed up and ready to go. Then I went out for a last visit walking in Antigua. I started at the Church of San Pedro a few blocks away. Adjacent to the church was another building which a few people were walking out of. I walked in and found myself in the Pedro Hermano Hospital of Antigua. As it was Saturday, there was no activity at all and hardly a person to be seen. The physical appearance was pleasant and clean with courtyards and a lobby area with artwork. I walked upstairs and saw a large room that appeared to be the pediatrics unit. There was a nurse inside who, when asked, told me I could not visit. So I left and continued on my way.

I wanted to visit some art galleries. There are a few in Antigua. I walked to a place called Casa des Artes and rang the bell to gain entry. The art there was all that of the indigineous peoples and expensive. There were several walls with masks, ceramics, and, of course, beautiful textiles. I learned that one could mail-order from there. After viewing the art I walked back to the town center, stopped at the ATM and continued to the other art gallery very close to the hotel that Joel S. had pointed out. The collection was primarily paintings and more contemporary Guatemalan art. I then decided to go back to Epicure where we had eaten before to get one of the deli sandwiches to go take with me on my 12:30 shuttle.

I got back to the hotel with time to spare, got my luggage out, and checked out. I sat and talked with Kevin while waiting for the shuttle. His wife Sheila was taking a cooking class at Diego's home (Soraya's friend and guitar player and singer for the camp.) 12:30 came and went and no shuttle. I went to the desk to speak with Lisa who had figured out how I could get to Chichicastenango, my destination. When I made my Saturday night hotel reservation I had found several travel companies with regularly scheduled shuttles at 12:30 and 4:00, so thought no problem.(WRONG) I had been e-mailing the companies to get a reservation - one never responded and the other wrote back that for $200 they would arrange transport. Lisa told me 1) the shuttles only run if there are enough people to fill them up and 2) I could take a shuttle to a place called Las Encuentras and then change to a taxi to finish the trip. While we were out Friday she had made all the arrangements and had collected my money and gave me a voucher for the shuttle and an envelope with a note about the taxi that contained the money. Lisa called the agency at about 12:45 and was told 5 minutes. She called again about 1:00 and was told 5 minutes. The shuttle showed up about 1:10, a van, and I was the only rider so I sat in the front seat with Lester. He spoke no English, but we were able to converse a bit. He has two young children, feels having more is not a good idea. There was a fair amount of traffic leaving Antigua on the two lane road. When we came to the intersection with the main highway that goes to Mexico, the intersection was sort of a free for all with traffic entering from all directions and somehow in the middle of the road facing all directions. We then got into terrible traffic, one lane in each direction with many slow moving trucks. Once we got through there were two lanes in each direction and we moved faster. We arrived at Las Encuentras and pulled into the parking area at a gas station. There was another van waiting there with a driver. My driver said "Chichi". The other man said "Si", and I moved from one van to the other. Lester, the first driver, was going on to Panajachel at Lake Atitlan and did not give the envelope with the money to the new driver, Marcos. Marcos understood and told me it was okay, that the money would go to the office. Marcos was equally nice, has three children and a wife who is a teacher. He was having some pain in his side and showed me his medicine, a Guatemalan form of naproxen, also sold over the counter in the U.S. I told him that and told him it was a good medicine. The road to Chi was up and down mountains and steep ravines with many switchbacks. Marco drove very responsibly and told me the chicken buses on that road went very fast and were very dangerous. We seemed to make good time as I arrived at Hotel Santo Tomas 2 ½ hours after leaving Antigua. I thanked him as we got my luggage out of the van.

The hotel seemed quite nice, two stories built around two courtyards filled with colorful flowers. The walls throughout the hotel are decorated with old wood carvings and there are many wooden benches. Christmas decorations are still up which added a festive air. The men who work in the hotel were very colorful native men's Mayan clothes - the first I have seen. I checked in and was taken to my room on the second floor in the back (no elevator, but my luggage got carried.) My room was nice with two beds, a fireplace, and some nice Mayan textiles for wall decorations. I settled in and then went to walk around the town. The Church Santo Tomas was about three blocks away and faced the main square. However, the square was not be seen as preparations were in process for the market the next day. There were scattered stalls with craft and textiles and an area with fruits and vegetables. Along the street, a few women had grills set up and were making tortillas, black ones and white ones. I walked up to the church to get an overlook. The steps are narrow and somewhat high and sort of semi-circular. Coming down, I apparently stepped on some (dog?) poop and slipped and fell. Fortunately, neither I nor my belongings were hurt. Of course, no one paid any attention. I got up, made my way down, and did my best to clean off my shoe.

I found the small anthropology museum and went in and looked around. It had three rooms and some exhibits, not very new, about the history of Chichicastenango. I walked around what appeared to be the marketplace and did stop at one vendor, Tomasa, and bought some pillow covers. I thought if this is all the market is, I will be able to see it tomorrow with much time to spare. After refreshing at the hotel, I walked about a block to Café Villa Cofredes and had dinner there, then back to the hotel and time for some rest.